Christmas Eve was a big day! Since having Logan, we would only plan to go out once, if at all, each day. We went out of our comfort zone, and filled the day with people we love. It was such a memorable, special Christmas Eve.
We headed to church as a family of three with 48 cookies in hand. Some ladies in the ward wanted to do a cookie exchange and I decided to join in. Yummy ginger molasses cookies. This was also the first time I actually did my make up since March probably. :')
We had a special Christmas Eve program put together for sacrament meeting and Logan got to be a part of it too. <3
I played Christmas hymns on the organ, Justin shared a testimony about the hymn "Jesus Once of Humble Birth", and Logan received his name and blessing from his dad.
Before going to church each week, I feed Logan so he'll fall asleep in the car and through church. People have asked if he's really in his carseat because they've never seen him - he's always sleeping! So Christmas Eve was the day the world saw him ;)
Logan Kimball Bean. I listened to Justin bless Logan from the organ bench. It was a tender blessing with our bishopric in the circle with Justin. Our ward really is our German family!
Being the new sleep-deprived parents that we were, a nice, quiet Christmas Eve to ourselves sounded ideal. But we knew on the inside if that's what we did we would regret it. All of my Christmas Eve's have been filled with people that I love.
So, we invited people that we love to our home and had the best time <3. We visited, played a get-to-know-you game courtesy of Justin, and watched the Christ Child video with a small testimony meeting after. It was so special. Many remarked how grateful we were for the Church providing the opportunity to have these relationships. I know I will never forget that Christmas Eve.
Claudia, Timna, Tabbi, Tawana, Limhi, Alex, Alex, Leonardo, Alice, Walli.
After everyone left, we put Logan to bed and sat on the couch with only our Christmas tree lit. <3 We reflected on all that we had experienced and felt on that Christmas Eve. Watching the Christ child was different as my own baby laid in his crib just down the hallway.
How grateful I am to a Heavenly Father who would willingly let His perfect Son come down to Earth and sacrifice Himself for us. I could never imagine having to do that as a parent. But He did, for us.
Christmas Day came and it was one of my favorite days we've had here. Tried out a new overnight french toast casserole recipe. (Good thing we remembered the night before, minutes before getting into bed haha.)
Logan opened all of his gifts from family and church friends. He wasn't old enough at the time to enjoy any of them but now he loooves looking at books and grabbing his o-ball!
We ate good food, watched Jingle All the Way, FaceTimed family, and headed to a Christmas concert in an old cathedral. The concert was an Italian acapella group singing in German. Needless to say, we didn't understand much but their voices were beautiful!
